Tactile guidance means

ABSTRACT

A tactile guidance means ( 1 ) capable of being provided as part of or affixed to a supporting medium, said means provided with a first type of distinctive raised or indented tactile feature, said tactile features being capable of tactile interrogation when contacted by a sensory part of a person using the same for guidance provided to identify a doorway or passage to a user through which to proceed. Typically a second form of tactile features are provided to indicate a direction to the user in which to proceed subsequent to proceeding through said doorway or passage.

The present invention relates to a tactile guidance doorplate to allow auser to identify a door, doorway, passage, corridor or the like andgenerally a safe passage which would lead to a route within a building,means of transport, or premises in conditions of low light or poorvisibility. The route can be to an exit, collection point, emergencyequipment or any predetermined location as required.

The use of directional signs such as exit signs are well known and arean adopted method of directing people towards stairways and safe exitpoints during everyday use and in the case of an emergency, such as inthe event of a fire. These signs are generally in the form of a visualaid, such as an image or text.

A problem associated with visual aids is that they rely on a personexiting the building, means of transport or premises to either see orunderstand the language of the text or the image on the sign. Inaddition, although exit signs are often illuminated to assist safe exitin low light situations, the signs are not useful for blind or visuallyimpaired people and those with poor eyesight. In certain situations,such as in dense smoke, signs become quickly obscured and are not usefulto people with normal vision.

It is also known to provide guidance rails which can be followed by aperson and which rails can include tactile features provided thereonwhich allow the user to follow the same in a particular direction tofollow an exit route. It is also known to provide as part of said railsan indication of when a doorway is reached by providing a differentshape of tactile device. While these rail systems are found to beextremely helpful, the present invention provides a further advantageoussolution to the problem of the provision of directional information to auser in times of emergency by providing a typically unitary member orplate at a particular location which can provide directional informationwithout the need for a guide rail to depend therefrom.

In prior art various plates are known for protecting the surface coatingof the door from mechanical abrasion, soiling and other degradation, orto provide decorative addition. However, none are provided to allowdirectional information to be passed to a person in a tactile manner.

It is therefore an aim of the application to provide a directionindicating device to a person or persons within a premises, vehicle orother environment and which device includes tactile features forimparting the information to the user. It is a further aim of thepresent invention to provide a doorplate or area that can beaccommodated and accepted in a plurality of applications and one that isaesthetically pleasing and acceptable and may be readily incorporatedwithin existing or newly constructed applications and which canpreferably be used to assist blind or visually impaired people tonavigate their way along a particular route in a non-emergencysituation.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided atactile guidance means to provide guidance to a person, said tactileguidance means having a plurality of tactile features for tactileinterrogation when in contact with a sensory part of the person, andcharacterised in that said tactile features are provided in a first formto identify a doorway or passage location through which the personshould proceed, and at least a second form to indicate a direction to befollowed subsequent to passing through said doorway or passage.

Typically the tactile guidance means comprises a plurality of raised orindented features in a first form located at a pre-determined area withthe means located on a door surface to identify the door and hencedoorway through which to proceed by the user to a particular location,the user identifying the correct door by feeling the tactile guidancemeans by using a sensory part of their body, and wherein one or moretactile indicators are provided in at least a second form on the saidsurface, the tactile indicators in said at least second form indicatingto a user that they are required to proceed in a particular directionafter moving through the doorway in order to reach said particularlocation.

Typically, if the route to be followed after going through the doorwayincorporates a turn or change in direction or continuation of thecurrent direction, the tactile indicators in said at least second formare located such that the user feels the first form of indicators toidentify the correct door and encounters the second form of indicatorswhich provide a directional indication matching the required directionto be followed. The directional indication may also be provided to allowthe person to make contact with further tactile guidance means.

Preferably the tactile indicators of said first form have one or morefeatures which are clearly and easily distinguishable from the tactileindicators of said at least second form.

In one embodiment the identification of the correct door, doorway orpassage involves the user making contact with the first form of tactileindicators on the surface of the guidance means. Typically the personsin the environment in which the means are provided are aware of theparticular height of the means prior to an emergency situation so canundertake informed searches for the same.

Although reference is hereonin made to the provision of a plate itshould be appreciated that the plate can be provided to be affixed tothe door, wall or support medium or may instead be provided as anintegral part of the structure or, yet further the tactile indicatorsmay be directly attached or provided in the support medium with a plate,in the required configuration to provide the required directionalinformation and all of these embodiments are incorporated in the scopeof this invention. Thus the suitable supporting medium or mountingmedium can be in the form of a material which is adapted to be securedto, or be an integral part of a surface of a door, handrail, wall,structure or building.

In one embodiment the second form of tactile indicators includes anindicator as to the required direction or change of direction to be madein which to proceed once immediately through the door, for example turnright after going through the door.

Preferably the tactile indicators in said first and at least secondforms are provided, where possible, on the surface of the doors alongthe route of travel/movement required to reach the particular locationfrom any other predetermined location.

Preferably the surface on which the tactile indicators are provided isany or any combination of door surface, handrail surface, wall surface,structure surface, building surface or mounting medium attachable to, orintegral part of, any of the aforementioned surfaces. The indicators canbe provided at any or any combinations of height or position on thesurface.

Preferably securing means for securing the mounting medium to a surfacecan be any or any combination of adhesive, clips, screws, nuts and boltsand/or the like.

The door, handrail or structure surface are typically provided in abuilding, premises or means of transport and the particular locationtherein is typically an exit.

Preferably the tactile indicators of said first and at least second fromdiffer in any or any combination of shape, texture, size, orientation,spatial arrangement and/or the like.

Preferably the tactile indicators are in the form of raised protrusionsor indents or holes on said surface in any suitable shape. Theprotrusions or indents or holes can be embossed, machined or moulded onor in the surface or suitable medium mounted on the surface.

In one embodiment the first form of tactile indicator is in the form ofa dome shape. The at least second form of tactile indicator is in theform of a tapered shape having an inclined surface, the direction of theincline indicating to the user the correct direction to travel oncethrough the door (typically the incline is from a low point to a highpoint relative to the surface in the direction of movement).

In a further embodiment, a plurality of tactile indicators indicate aset of instructions for movement. For example, the tactile guidanceplate can be provided with a first form of tactile indicator in a domeshape, a second form in a tapered shape with an inclined surfaceindicating a rightward direction, a third form in a cube shape toindicate forward movement and a further second form located underneaththe third form indicating a leftward direction. Thus the user would beinstructed to pass through the doorway, turn right, move forward andturn left to reach an exit or next tactile guidance plate.

In an alternative embodiment, the number of tactile indicators in aparticular spatial arrangement, shape, orientation, texture or size onthe tactile guidance plate may indicate the distance to travel to reachan exit or next tactile guidance plate. For example, the tactileguidance plate could be provided with a plurality of second forms in atapered shape with an inclined, surface indicating a rightwarddirection, the number of tactile indicators indicating the distance toproceed in said direction.

In one embodiment the shape of the tactile indicators indicate thedirection of movement visually, for example an arrow shape.

Preferably the sensory part of the user's body used to feel the tactileindicators is a hand, foot, arm, leg and/,or the like.

Preferably the tactile guidance doorplates are provided withillumination means to improve the visibility and orientation of theindicators to a user in low light conditions or darkness. Suchillumination means could be by way of photoluminescent materials,electroluminescent lamps, light emitting diodes, tritium gas lightingdevices or the like. Such illumination means may be employed toilluminate all of the tactile guidance doorplate or area of the door, ormay illuminate specific sections thereof. In this case, the tactileguidance doorplate may be manufactured from a translucent or transparentmaterial whereby the light source would be applied or positionedadjacent to the back face of the tactile guidance doorplate and bevisible therethrough. It may also be manufactured from an opaquematerial and a coating of phosphorescent material applied to thesurface.

In one further aspect of the invention, there is provided a tactileguidance means situated adjacent a doorway or passage through which aperson is to pass, said means including a first tactile form to indicatethe presence of the doorway or passage and that the user should passthrough the same and a second tactile form to indicate the direction tobe followed by the person having gone through said doorway or passage.

Typically the tactile guidance means are raised, indented or otherwisedistinguished from the adjacent surface.

In one embodiment the guidance means is attached to or provided on adoor which closes the doorway or passage through which the person isindicated to pass by the guidance means. Alternatively the guidancemeans is attached to or provided on a support medium adjacent thedoorway or passage.

In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a tactileguidance means to provide guidance to a person, said tactile guidancemeans having at least one tactile feature for tactile interrogation whenin contact with a sensory part of the person, and said at least onetactile feature is provided in a first form to identify a doorway orpassage location through which the person should proceed andcharacterised in that said guidance means is attached to or provided ona door which is positioned at the doorway or passage through which theperson is indicated to pass by said first form of tactile features.

Typically the guidance means include a second form of tactile featureswhich indicate a direction to be followed once the person has passedthrough the doorway or passage.

In one example of use it would be particularly helpful to a visuallydisabled person if the tactile guidance means imparts information as tothe effectiveness or appropriateness of using a particular door incertain situations. For instance, were a blind or visually impairedperson (or a person who is rendered blind or visually impaired byambient conditions or circumstance such as the presence of smoke ornoxious and irritant fumes) to arrive at a door, it would be of theutmost importance to be able to identify by touch whether that doorconstituted a door which was part of, or in whole, an exit route.

Furthermore, it is of benefit that the user is able, again by tactileinterrogation, to determine in which direction to proceed after passingthrough the door and so aid an effective evacuation.

In a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided a method ofdirecting a person by tactile guidance including the steps of:

-   -   providing a tactile guidance means having a plurality of tactile        features for tactile interrogation;    -   contacting a first form of tactile feature provided to identify        a doorway or passage through which the person is to move;    -   contacting at least a second form of tactile feature to indicate        a direction to be followed subsequent to passing through said        doorway or passage; characterised by    -   proceeding through said doorway;    -   and proceeding in a direction as indicated by said at least        second form

The advantage of the present invention is that the tactile indicators ofsaid at least first and second forms allow the user to be informed thatthe door is to be used to reach a particular location. The user may alsobe informed of the direction or change in direction of travel which theyare required to make after immediately passing through the door to reacha particular location.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described below withreference to the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the tactile guidance doorplate withtactile indicators of a first form according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view along the line A-A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view along the line A-A of FIG. 1 in analternative manufactured embodiment.

FIGS. 4-6 show a perspective view of a tactile guidance doorplate withtactile indicators of a first form and a tactile indicator of a secondform for indicating the direction or change of direction to be made bythe user.

FIG. 7 shows an exploded view of a tactile door guidance plate accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view along the line B-B of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view along the line CC of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 shows a typical location of tactile guidance doorplates on a setof fire doors.

FIG. 11 shows a plan view to illustrate the application of a tactileguidance doorplate for guiding a user to an emergency exit in a hotelbuilding. The tactile guidance doorplate is typically provided onsubstantially all doors which lead to or along a fire evacuation routein the hotel building to guide a user located in any part of the hotelbuilding to the nearest emergency exit.

The tactile guidance door means in accordance with the invention isprovided for persons (who may or may not be visually impaired) within abuilding who need to be guided to an escape or exit from said building.The guidance means comprises first tactile features in the form ofraised members 2 in the form of a plurality of raised dome shapes asshown in FIG. 1 and in one embodiment of the invention only the firstform of tactile features are provided so as to indicate to the personsthe existence and location of a doorway or passage. Typically theguidance means are mounted on a door which closes the doorway or passageor can be mounted adjacent thereto. A further embodiment of the presentinvention comprises the first raised members 2 and second raised member5 in the form of a sloped shape as shown in FIG. 4. The first and secondmembers 2, 5 are provided fixed to supporting medium 1 as shown in FIG.1 as a plate which can then be provided on any suitable surface such asa door, handrail and/or the like. Alternatively the features can beattached or positioned directly onto the door, handrail, wall or thelike.

Referring to FIG. 1, the suitable supporting medium is seen as a backingplate 1. It is also seen that raised members 2 are of such a form,spacing and shape that they pose no risk of causing harm or discomfortduring tactile interrogation by the user.

With reference to FIG. 2, the backing plate 1 and raised members 2 areof solid construction in a transparent material which has beenmanufactured by a process such as, but not limited to, casting.Illumination is provided in this embodiment by means of photoluminescentmaterial 3 applied to the back surface of backing plate 1. Pressuresensitive adhesive 4 is applied to the back surface of photoluminescentmaterial 3.

Referring now to FIG. 3 the present invention is, in this embodiment,formed by a process such as embossing or vacuum forming and may beeither an autonomous entity or form part of the fabric or constructionof the door, door veneer or constituent material thereof. In the case ofa non-autonomous and separate entity, illumination is provided in thisembodiment by means of a photoluminescent material 3 applied to the backsurface of backing plate 1. The pressure sensitive adhesive 4 is appliedto back surface of the photoluminescent material 3. In this case thematerial used in manufacture would necessarily be transparent to allowthe photoluminescent material to be visible.

Referring to FIG. 4 in this embodiment the second member 5 givesadditional tactile information. In order for a user to determine thecorrect direction in which to proceed after passing through the door,the user is required to move their hand over the second member 5. Theslope of member 5 indicates the direction of correct travel to the user.In FIG. 4 the correct direction of travel after passing through the doorwould be to the left.

FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, the raised member 5 guides the user to turn right afterpassing through the door.

FIG. 6 shows a further embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, the raised member 5 informs the user that the correctdirection of travel after passing through the door is straight ahead.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative tactile pattern and an alternative method ofincorporating the tactile members informing the user of the direction inwhich to progress after passing through the door. In this embodiment theplate 6 has 24 round holes 6 a drilled or otherwise machined or formed.These holes extend through the plate. In this illustration the holes areparallel as if formed by a drill. They could be otherwise shaped, forinstance being tapered from a larger diameter on the front face of theplate to a smaller diameter on the back surface of the plate, thatsurface which adjoins sheet material 7. The holes are not restricted toa circular geometry and may for instance be square or hexagonal or othershape. In this embodiment the tactile indicators 6 a are uniformlyspaced and form the primary tactile pattern which identifies the door asan exit door. It may well be that these holes are not uniform inspacing, geometry or shape or formation as long as they are a singularor plurality of shapes and forms that the person, who is performing thetactile interrogation can interpret as a distinguishing feature. Plate 6has a further feature in this illustration. Circular hole 6 b passes allthe way through the plate. This hole is counterbored such that thetactile direction indicator 7 may be fitted into the hole. Thiscounterbore has a locating spigot such that slot 11 in the tactiledirection indicator 7 locates and prevents the tactile directionindicator from rotating once the unit is assembled. In this embodiment asingle locating feature is depicted. It is possible that this functioncan be achieved in other ways such as mating splines or altering themating geometry of tactile direction indicator 7 and hole 6 b to, forinstance, mutually square. The tactile direction indicator 7 may beproduced in many ways such as, but not limited to, casting, machining,injection moulding or vacuum forming. This tactile direction indicatormay be rotationally positioned within the mating hole to correctly implythe direction in which to progress after passing through the door. It isenvisaged that the thickness and depths of materials and counterboresare such that the front and back surfaces of the tactile directionindicator 7 are flush with the respective front and back faces of plate6. Illumination of the assembly in this embodiment is by way ofphotoluminescent material 9, it may however be substituted for analternative light source such as an electroluminescent panel, edge litmaterial or other means of illumination such as light emitting diodes,tritium gas lighting devices or the like. In this embodiment,photoluminescent material 9 is protected from wear, dirt, mechanicaldamage and the like by a transparent sheet material 8, such as, but notlimited to, polycarbonate. If either the plate 6 or tactile directionindicator 7 were produced in a transparent material, an instruction orinformation legend 13 may be included by for instance screen printing oradhesive vinyl applied or affixed to the surface of the photoluminescentsheet material 9. Other sites are equally possible and viable such as onthe surface of sheet material 8 or on plate 6 and/or the like. Plate 10is a backing plate comprising of a suitable material such as, but notlimited to, aluminium. The assembly is affixed to the door in thisembodiment by screws 12. Front plate 6 and tactile direction indicator 7may be of a translucent, transparent or opaque material and the assemblymay comprise of either all the components or one or more as deemedappropriate. For instance, should it be deemed that a form ofillumination is not required in a certain application, it may be deemedappropriate to fit only plate 6 and tactile direction indicator 7 usingscrews 12. Again certain applications may be more suited to a differentmethod of fixing such as adhesive.

It is intended that the provision of a source of illumination, such asphotoluminescent material, will assist in the safe use of this presentinvention. For instance in a situation where the emergency lights havefailed or are rendered inefficient by overhead smoke, the glow fromphotoluminescent material would lead people to the correct door.Referring again to FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the photoluminescentmaterial is a separate component of the assembly. It may however be thatbacking plate 10 be surface treated with a photoluminescent materialthus negating the requirement for 9.

FIG. 8 shows section B-B through plate 6 in FIG. 7 and illustrates thespigot which mates with slot 11 on the tactile direction indicator 7extends to the main bore of hole 6 b.

FIG. 9 shows section CC through plate 6 in FIG. 6 and illustrates thecounterbore on hole 6 b.

FIG. 10 shows a typical placement of the tactile guidance doorplate. Inthis application the tactile guidance doorplate 22 is fixed on a pair offire doors.

Illustrating a typical example of the use of this present invention,FIG. 8 depicts a part of a building complex. This illustration shows, inplan view, part of a typical hotel corridor and adjoining rooms. Doors13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are bedroom doors leading into or out of abedroom. Doors 21 are fire exit doors and doors 19 and 20 are utilitycupboard doors. Within the bedrooms, doors 13 a, 14 a, 15 a, 16 a, 17 aand 18 a are doors from the main area of the room to the en-suitebathroom. Doors 13 b, 14 b, 15 b, 16 b, 17 b and 18 b are wardrobedoors.

In this example we will for illustrative purposes, assume a person isoccupying the bedroom accessed by door 14 from the corridor. Again forillustration purposes we will assume that this person is by reason ofambient conditions rendered visually impaired and a situation has arisenwhereby that person must navigate from that person's room to the fireexit doors 21.

The first obstacle the person must overcome is to identify the correctdoor by which to exit the room. In the illustrative example there aredoors which will not aid progress toward the fire exit doors 21. Theseare doors 14 a and 14 b (being bathroom and wardrobe doorsrespectively). Fixing a tactile guidance doorplate as depicted in FIG. 1to the room-side surface of door 14 would enable the person, by tactileinterrogation, to identify that door as the correct door through whichto exit into the corridor.

In this example, the person would be further assisted if it were madeevident upon exiting the room into the corridor, which was the directionto proceed along to the fire exit doors 21. If the tactile guidancedoorplate was as shown in FIG. 4, that person would be able to establishby tactile interrogation of the tactile guidance doorplate that not onlydid it possess raised members 2 but additionally raised member 5 whichindicates to the user to proceed to the left after passing through thedoor.

Since the fire exit doors 21 are the only exit doors, it follows that itis only these doors which have the tactile guidance doorplates fitted onthe corridor side. The user therefore can establish by means of tactileinterrogation that doors 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 along the escaperoute path are not escape path doors.

While the tactile guidance plate has been illustrated for use in a hotelbuilding, it will be appreciated that it may be used in other buildingssuch as hospitals, offices, public buildings, residential homes, schoolsand airports or in public transport vehicles such as trains and ships.

As such, an invention has been disclosed in terms of preferredembodiments thereof which fulfil each and every one of the objects ofthe invention as set forth hereinabove and provide a new and useful doorguidance plate for providing directional information of great noveltyand utility.

Of course, various changes, modifications and alterations in theteachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilledin the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof.

As such, it is intended that the present invention only be limited bythe terms of the claims.

1. A tactile guidance device for providing guidance to a person, thedevice comprising: a plurality of tactile features for tactileinterrogation when in contact with a sensory part of the person; whereinthe tactile features are provided in a first form (2) to identify apassage location through which the person should proceed, and at leastone second form (5) to indicate a direction to be followed subsequent toproceeding through said passage.
 2. The device according to claim 1further comprising a plate affixed to a supporting medium.
 3. The deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein said first form (2) of said tactilefeatures has a rounded outer surface for contact by the person.
 4. Thedevice according to claim 3 wherein said tactile features arehemispherical.
 5. The device according to claim 1 wherein said at leastone second form (5) of said tactile features includes a definableinterface between first and second faces.
 6. The device according toclaim 5 wherein the interface is in the form of a definable edge.
 7. Thedevice according to claim 6 wherein a substantially wedge shaped featureis formed via the first face being longer in dimension than the secondface.
 8. The device according to claim 7 wherein the direction to befollowed by the person subsequent to passing through the doorway orpassage is indicated by the person contacting the said wedge shapedfeature and following the first face in the direction towards theinterface.
 9. The device according to claim 1 further comprisingillumination means (3) to illuminate one or more sections of saiddevice.
 10. The device according to claim 1 wherein said first form (2)and said second form (5) of said tactile features are mounted directlyon a support medium.
 11. The device according to claim 1 wherein saidtactile features are mounted on a support medium in a manner thatprevents rotational movement of said tactile features during use.
 12. Atactile guidance device situated adjacent a passage through which aperson is to proceed, the device comprising: a first tactile form (2) toindicate the presence of the passage and that the user should proceedthrough the same; and a second tactile form (5) to indicate thedirection to be followed by the person having gone through said passage.13. The device according to any of the claim 12 further comprising meansfor distinguishing the tactile features from the adjacent surface. 14.The device according to claim 12 wherein the device is attached to adoor which closes the passage through which the device indicates thatthe person should pass.
 15. The device according to claim 12 wherein thedevice is attached to a support medium adjacent the passage.
 16. Atactile guidance device to provide guidance to a person, said devicehaving at least one tactile feature for tactile interrogation when incontact with a sensory part of the person, and said at least one tactilefeature is provided in a first form (2) to identify a passage locationthrough which the person should proceed and wherein said device isattached to a door which is positioned at the passage through which theperson is indicated to proceed by said first form of tactile features.17. The device according to claim 16 the device further comprising asecond form of at least one tactile feature which indicates a directionto be followed once the person has proceeded through the passage.
 18. Amethod of directing a person by tactile guidance, the method comprisingthe steps of: providing a tactile guidance device having a plurality oftactile features for tactile interrogation; contacting a first form (2)of tactile feature provided to identify a passage through which theperson is to move; contacting at least one second form (5) of tactilefeature to indicate a direction to be followed subsequent to passingthrough said passage; proceeding through said passage; and proceeding ina direction as indicated by said at least one second form (2)
 19. Themethod according to claim 18 further comprising the step of indicatingthe distance to proceed in said direction by the configuration of saidat least one second form (5) of said tactile features.
 20. The deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein the passage is a doorway.
 21. The deviceaccording to claim 1 further comprising means for distinguishing thetactile features from the adjacent surface.
 22. The device according toclaim 21 wherein the distinguishing means is raised from the adjacentsurface.
 23. The device according to claim 21 wherein the distinguishingmeans is indented into the adjacent surface.
 24. The device according toclaim 21 wherein the distinguishing means is a hole in the adjacentsurface.
 25. The device according to claim 1 wherein the device isattached to a door which closes the passage through which the person isindicated to pass by the device.
 26. The device according to claim 1wherein the device is attached to a support medium adjacent the passage.27. The device according to claim 11 wherein the support medium is abacking plate.
 28. The device according to claim 12 wherein the passageis a doorway.
 29. The device according to claim 13 wherein thedistinguishing means is raised from the adjacent surface.
 30. The deviceaccording to claim 13 wherein the distinguishing means is indented intothe adjacent surface.
 31. The device according to claim 13 wherein thedistinguishing means is a hole in the adjacent surface.
 32. The deviceaccording to claim 16 wherein the passage is a doorway.
 33. The deviceaccording to claim 18 wherein the passage is a doorway.